Are you primarily oval fans or road/street course fans?

[SpeedyRB]

On Cavin's radio show yesterday he said that he thinks TG mispoke when he said that the ideal ratio of ovals, street circuits and road courses would be 6/6/6. He said that he thought it would stay at least 50% ovals, because the "fans of the ICS are primarily oval racing fans".

Personally, I liked the 1/3, 1/3, and 1/3 ratio. 50% ovals wouldn't be great, but certainly no more than that. I find some ovals to be interesting, and neccessary if this series is to be the ultimate test of a racing driver, but I am a road racing fan first and foremost. I'd love to see something like 6 ovals, 6 street/airport courses and 8 road courses.

This ain't the all-oval IRL anymore - there are a lot of new fans, some migrating from the CCWS.

I have a feeling I know what a lot of people in these forums will say, but I'm also going to start the same thread at the Indycar website to see what the results there are (when the forums start working!)

What do you think? Are you "primarily oval racing fans" like Cavin thinks, or do you prefer a schedule that has more road and street courses?

[nanders]

I like them all. A good balance between them would be good.

Why post a thread that encourages people to embrace divisiveness? This will just start an us against them debate.

[xtlm]

I always thought something like this would be appropriate

5-6 road courses
4-5 street/airport courses
6-7 short track ovals (or....ones like iowa or homestead where they are short, but are fast...maybe a new catagory needs to be made...)
3 super-speedways

meaning almost a 50-50 between the 2 types, with there being only one or two more road courses

[Chris R]

I think the 1/3 split is about right - since there are two types of non-ovals maybe kick one or two more races toward the oval..... The problem with ovals is that too many of them are the "cookie cutter" NASCAR style tracks these days. A good oval race is a great thing - but too many of them and they all seem the same....

Mix it up - overall the fans will prefer it (some may want more ovals and some more road courses - but they will all watch) the proper ratio will work itself out in the long haul.....

[cartpix]

I like road racing better than ovals but at most road courses & all street tracks, you can only see 1 or 2 corners, at best. Sit high enough, at an oval track & you can see the whole thing. I like them all, I love some better. It's a relative thing.

Jeff

[DazzlaF1]

Some people like ovals better than the road/street tracks and vice versa, so its nice to have a good variety

[pits4me]

I'm not a huge fan of hi- banked ovals. That's why I like The Mile when it comes to ovals. Tracks where they have to lift and brake if not turn right and left .

[philipbain]

Like any other type of track, with ovals there are great ones and not so great ones, the sort of ovals I have always like are ones that deviate from the "cookie cutter" layout, Nazereth was good (shame its gone), Indy is also good, with 4 distinct turns its unusual, Pheonix is another great track that's an irregular oval, Pocono is a fabulous track, its a shame that single seaters haven't raced there for so long, I think that Indycars at Pocono would be spectacular and another track that similar in layout to Pocono which has seen Champ Car action in recent times is the Eurospeedway in Germany and by all accounts the drivers loved it.

As for preference I think Indycar should be about the ultimate test of the versatility of the drivers, hence there should be a good mix of short (1 mile or less), medium (typically 1.5 mile) and super speedway (2 mile+) ovals and also a good mix of road and street courses, again of different types. The driver who is the most adaptable between the demands of all these different types of track would then be the victor and the credibility of Indycar as a formula for separating the great drivers out from the merely good would be restored, rather than creating specialists in a tightly defined niche, this could then make Indycar once again a viable breeding ground for talent to move on to F1 and for drivers spat out from F1 to find a unique challenge and pit themselves against the best young talent coming up, basically what Indycar was before the split!

[weeflyonthewall]

Good points phillipbain

[JSH]

I love natural terrain road courses. It's why I love watching F1, Touring cars and ALMS.

But I also very much enjoy the variety and uniqueness of the IRL's ovals.

[-Helix-]

50% ovals is fine with me.

7 short/medium ovals
3 superspeedways

6 road courses
4 street/airport courses

Something like that would be perfect.

[DazzlaF1]

I love natural terrain road courses. It's why I love watching F1, Touring cars and ALMS.

But I also very much enjoy the variety and uniqueness of the IRL's ovals.
Thats why Spa is in my opinion the best circuit in the world, you need to see the Eau Rouge corner complex in real life to understand its awesomeness.

In america though, Elkhart Lake is a great track which i'd like to eventually see the Indycars go

[dataman1]

I like road racing better than ovals but at most road courses & all street tracks, you can only see 1 or 2 corners, at best. Sit high enough, at an oval track & you can see the whole thing. I like them all, I love some better. It's a relative thing.

Jeff

Good points. How about the airports? Flat land, good visibility for everyone.

As long as the ovals have some variation and therefore are a challenge to the driver and engineers, they should be a part of the series.

[garyshell]

I'll take any reasonably balanced mix, as long as there is modulation of the right foot involved.

Gary

[DazzlaF1]

50% ovals is fine with me.

7 short/medium ovals
3 superspeedways

6 road courses
4 street/airport courses

Something like that would be perfect.

Short/Medium/superspeedways: Miami, Milwaukee, Texas, Richmond, Nashville, Kentucky, Indianapolis, Motegi, Chicago

Road/street: Watkins Glen, Lexington, Sonoma, Elkhart Lake, Edmonton, St Petersburg, Long Beach, Surfers Paradise, St Petersburg, Detroit

That would be a decent lineup

[nigelred5]

I wouldn't say I'm a fan of any of the type more than the other, even though I would tend to watch more open wheel racing on road courses. I very much enjoy the short ovals and the superspeedways. It's the middle sized ones I can really do without.

The problems I have had with the ovals typically on the IRL schedule had bee the TYPE of ovals, as well as some of the street courses formerly on the CCWS schedule. They need to dump all of the NASCAR cookie cutter D shaped 1.5 mile tracks but Texas. One or two is fine, 5 makes you look like you are trying to emulate NASCAR and of the three basic types of ovals, the 1.5's seem the most dangerous. The combination of relatively high speeds and a 25+ car field are a recipe for disaster again. The bullrings are lower speed, and the 2 and 2.5m super speedways are spread out enough that there is a little more margin for error but not significant'y higher speeds than the 1.5's
.
I'd buy Nazareth myself and resurrect the place and maybe widen it about 15 feet if I had the coin. I'll definitely be in Richmond this year. I just didn't really care for the track configuration in Iowa, though I suppose we're probably stuck with it for a while.

TG made comments about Geographical distribution of races. They really need to try and get back to New Hampshire, though even that track has been modified fairly heavily since I last watched open wheelers there. It's a crying shame Lausitz is where it is. I wish someone would copy that type of oval here in the states somewhere.

Michigan, as much as Indycars belong there, I fear Detroit has that market locked for a while. They could honestly save some money long term and simply make the Belle Isle track a semi permanent race course in the park with proper run-off, pits and garages and spetator facilities. Road America has to be back on the schedule. I think they will work out the Toronto, but I'd rather see Cleveland from a racing perspective.

With the actual space available and what was actually laid out the Houston parking lot track was a joke. LasVegas was an awsome street configuration. Too bad the promoter was a flop. The grade changes and underpasses just added a very cool element to the street track. Can they find a couple more combination tracks like St Pete, maybe with a little larger airport. Edmonton I really like as well. The new track in Jersey could have really made a cool layout by adding the runways to the roadcourse.

I guess what I'm getting at is I don't care one way if the mix is weighted heavier any one particular way, as long as the courses and the events are quality events. 12 years of watching half-baked, poorly promoted and attended events on both sides of the fence really wears on a race fan.

[DazzlaF1]

Short/Medium/superspeedways: Miami, Milwaukee, Texas, Richmond, Nashville, Kentucky, Indianapolis, Motegi, Chicago

Road/street: Watkins Glen, Lexington, Sonoma, Elkhart Lake, Edmonton, St Petersburg, Long Beach, Surfers Paradise, St Petersburg, Detroit

That would be a decent lineup

whoops i've put st petersburg twice, was supposed to say Mosport

[keysersoze]

Mixed, with Road Atlanta thrown in with Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, Road America, and Mid Ohio.

Streets: St. Pete, Long Beach, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Miami

Short / Medium Ovals:Motegi, Texas, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Homestead, Richmond, Nashville.

GATEWAY needs to be back on--it's a very challenging oval, as well as TRENTON, a mile oval with a dogleg RIGHT on the back straight. Very cool idea, IMO.

Superspeedways: Indy, Fontana, Michigan

[SpeedyRB]

Why post a thread that encourages people to embrace divisiveness? This will just start an us against them debate.

I never meant this to turn into an "us vs. them" debate - and so far, all the responses have been very balanced, so kudos to the members of this forum.

I just thought Mr. Cavin's assessment that IndyCar fans are primarily oval fans was wrong and wanted to see how other people felt.

Apparently, most people feel like I do: that it should be a good mix, with ovals being no more than half, and maybe a little less...

[DazzlaF1]

Mixed, with Road Atlanta thrown in with Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, Road America, and Mid Ohio.

Streets: St. Pete, Long Beach, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Miami

Short / Medium Ovals:Motegi, Texas, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Homestead, Richmond, Nashville.

GATEWAY needs to be back on--it's a very challenging oval, as well as TRENTON, a mile oval with a dogleg RIGHT on the back straight. Very cool idea, IMO.

Superspeedways: Indy, Fontana, Michigan

That would be good if that were part of the same weekend as the F1 race, would make for a real bumper weekend, i dont think a Mr Ecclestone would allow such a thing but it would be great

[BenRoethig]

A combination of road, street, intermediate ovals, and super speedways. If you get too many similar tracks in a row, its gets kinda boring. I like having a change of pace.

[nanders]

Apparently, most people feel like I do: that it should be a good mix, with ovals being no more than half, and maybe a little less...

I agree with this distribution.

[anthonyvop]

Some oval races are OK I guess. It gives me time to go fishing or play golf.

[jarrambide]

I´m not a fan of ovals, but I don´t like street races that much either, I prefer road course races, but a race is a race, I´ll watch snowmobile races.

[jarrambide]

I´m not a fan of ovals, but I don´t like street races that much either, I prefer road course races, but a race is a race, I´ll watch snowmobile races.

[Vegasguy]

I also like a good distribution of venues.

Vary the tracks, all of them. Have different ovals, different style of road courses and different Temporary circuits.

Variety is the spice of life right?

[ezhop7]

I like ovals racing especially Texas, Kentucky and Richmond. Indy has the prestige but Texas has a lot more action even Atlanta was a great oval track,but I would say the perfect schedule would be 24 races a great mix of ovals/road courses/street courses with a visit to Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada and Mexico:

1. St. Pete GP (street)
2. Homestead (1.5mi oval)
3. Long Beach GP (street course)
4. Motegi Japan (1.5 mi oval)
5. Australia GP (street course)
6. Kansas City (1.5mi oval)
7. Indy (2.5mi oval)
8. Milwaukee (1 mi oval)
9. Texas (1.5 mi oval)
10. Mexico race( road course)
11. Salt Lake (road course)
12. Iowa (short oval)
13. Cleveland (airport)
14. Toronto or Montreal GP (street race)
15. Edmondton (airport)
16. Nashville (1+mile concrete oval)
17. European race (road course)
18. Mid-Ohio (road course)
19. Richmond (.750 mile oval)
20. Kentucky (1.5 mi oval)
21. Watkins Glen (road course)
22 Chicago (1.5 mi oval)
23. Houston GP (street course)
24. Infineon (road course)

[DazzlaF1]

I like ovals racing especially Texas, Kentucky and Richmond. Indy has the prestige but Texas has a lot more action even Atlanta was a great oval track,but I would say the perfect schedule would be 24 races a great mix of ovals/road courses/street courses with a visit to Europe, Japan, Australia, Canada and Mexico:

1. St. Pete GP (street)
2. Homestead (1.5mi oval)
3. Long Beach GP (street course)
4. Motegi Japan (1.5 mi oval)
5. Australia GP (street course)
6. Kansas City (1.5mi oval)
7. Indy (2.5mi oval)
8. Milwaukee (1 mi oval)
9. Texas (1.5 mi oval)
10. Mexico race( road course)
11. Salt Lake (road course)
12. Iowa (short oval)
13. Cleveland (airport)
14. Toronto or Montreal GP (street race)
15. Edmondton (airport)
16. Nashville (1+mile concrete oval)
17. European race (road course)
18. Mid-Ohio (road course)
19. Richmond (.750 mile oval)
20. Kentucky (1.5 mi oval)
21. Watkins Glen (road course)
22 Chicago (1.5 mi oval)
23. Houston GP (street course)
24. Infineon (road course)

Australia, surely that would be Surfers Paradise and not Melbourne

[dataman1]

I´m not a fan of ovals, but I don´t like street races that much either, I prefer road course races, but a race is a race, I´ll watch snowmobile races.

You and I must be speed junkies. My wife once accussed that I would watch rats with model airplane motors strapped to them. Little did she know she was right. If it has a motor and it races I'll watch it at least once whether in the air, on water or on land. But I prefer methanol fumes to the others.

[jimispeed]

For street and road courses..................Love them!!

Tony Cotman drawing that line on streetcourses was brilliant!!

As for ovals, I like superspeedways, and the tri-oval.

(where is that located??)


The oval in Brazil was pretty cool to watch too!!

[-Helix-]

People want too many street courses. I like street course races but if there are many of them they'll get old fast. *cough*ChampCar*cough*

St. Pete, Long Beach, Detroit, and Australia are enough IMO.

And if it was up to me I would replace Detroit with Toronto or Houston. But I think we have enough as it is. The "coolness" factor of racing on city streets is taken away when you do it so often.

I agree that some of the 1.5 mile ovals should see the chopping block too. Homestead for sure. And either Kansas or Chicagoland. Then replace them with Fontana and Michigan.

My dream schedule would go something like this:

1. Long Beach (street)
2. Motegi (oval)
3. Surfer's Paradise (street)
4. Road Atlanta (road)
5. St. Pete (street)
6. Kansas (oval)
7. Indy (superspeedway)
8. Milwaukee (short oval)
9. Road America (road)
10. Iowa (short oval)
11. Cleveland (airport)
12. Michigan (superspeedway)
13. Toronto (street)
14. Mosport/Mont-Tremblant (road)
15. Edmonton (airport)
16. Nashville (oval)
17. Mid-Ohio (road)
18. Richmond (short oval)
19. Kentucky (oval)
20. Watkins Glen (road)
21. Texas (oval)
22. Laguna Seca (road)
23. California (superspeedway)

[ozrevhead]

I grew up on watching road/street circuits and they are my favorite but a good mix of every type of circuit is great

Its the one thing that love about Indy - name me another form of motorsport that has oval street and road races in one season!

[CARTDM15]

I would prefer no ovals but I know that want happen.

[call_me_andrew]

I'm usually more of an oval fan, but I've come to accept variety as the spice of life.

[NickFalzone]

the mix this season is IMO close to perfect, although there's an oval or two that could be replaced by a Road America and a Long Beach. This mix is what makes the series so unique and if marketed properly like it was back in the CART days it could get back to the popularity it deserves. The sponsors like Direct TV and Coke are key in making this happen. I don't think it will get to NASCAR success anytime soon, but getting even halfway there by 2010 will be a major accomplishment, and I think that's well within reach.

[philipbain]

Mixed, with Road Atlanta thrown in with Laguna Seca, Watkins Glen, Road America, and Mid Ohio.

Streets: St. Pete, Long Beach, Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Miami

Short / Medium Ovals:Motegi, Texas, Milwaukee, Phoenix, Homestead, Richmond, Nashville.

GATEWAY needs to be back on--it's a very challenging oval, as well as TRENTON, a mile oval with a dogleg RIGHT on the back straight. Very cool idea, IMO.

Superspeedways: Indy, Fontana, Michigan

Trenton was certainly unusual and the right kink in the back straight did create a unique challenge as turns 3 & 4 were a lot longer with a wider radius than turns 1 & 2. Unfortunately the facility closed down 28 years ago and sadly both the track and the fairgrounds it was set in no longer exist. What would be cool is if someone had the bravery to do something truely unique with the speedway concept, a big high banked figure of 8 with a bridged crossover would be cool, it would provide a challenge in setup as cambering and staggering the car for one direction of corner wouldnt work.

[F1boat]

For Indy Car best would be 50 % ovals and superspeedways and 50% road and street courses.

[infoxicated]

I got into IndyCar because of the ovals and I find them the most entertaining due to the passing and the close racing.

I don't have a problem with the road courses, but I do want them to race on good courses that are appropriate for the power of the cars. Mid-Ohio is an absolute joke and so is Infineon - it makes about as much sense racing IndyCars on those as it does racing F1 cars in Monaco, except with the latter there's the hype that it generates. Not seeing much hype or benefit to the series coming from a procession at Mid-Ohio where the feeder series puts on a better race.

It was the cars getting too fast for the circuits that killed my interest in F1. I want to see passing - otherwise it's not racing, it's a boring parade decided in the pits. Or worse - a rain shower lottery like St Pete's was.

At least 50% should be ovals. Otherwise it's just another poor imitation of F1, like GP2, A1GP, and all the rest of them.

[veeten]

As for ovals, I like superspeedways, and the tri-oval.

(where is that located??)

you mean that place in northeastern Pennsylvania, near Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Commonly known as Pocono Speedway. :)



The oval in Brazil was pretty cool to watch too!!

It was the 'sweetener' that nearly brought Senna over. Too bad.

[nigelred5]

You and I must be speed junkies. My wife once accussed that I would watch rats with model airplane motors strapped to them. Little did she know she was right. If it has a motor and it races I'll watch it at least once whether in the air, on water or on land. But I prefer methanol fumes to the others.

I've been known to throw back a few watching lawnmower races in the lawn behind the local greasy-spoon. We used to race shoping carts down the hill from the local grocery store. I never got hurt tooo bad.

Never tried the flying rat thing. Tell me more!?! ;)

[nigelred5]

I would prefer no ovals but I know that want happen. That mix already killed more than one series in this country.

Lets not try to repeat that yet again.

[nigelred5]

That would be good if that were part of the same weekend as the F1 race, would make for a real bumper weekend, i dont think a Mr Ecclestone would allow such a thing but it would be great


I think it would be a hell of a support race and that's the reality of where indycars are right now and I'm sure the montreal organizers would take everything they can get to increase attendance. Bring back the USGP and run the Indycars as support instead of the IPS. That should fill the seats.

[DavePI2]

Interesting idea of running INDY cars as support for F1. I don't go along with it though because if we are trying to rebuild aowr we shouldn't be playing second fiddle to anyone. How can we be taken seriously if we do. Although a lot of fans don't like the idea and I certainly understand why I would still like to see a second INDY car race at Indy using the road course, with the ALMS as the support series. I still think this is an idea that would work big. A second race for the cup at daytona certainly doesn't detract from the tintop 500 so why would a second at indy detract from the greatest race in the world? Since the original topic of this thread is "are you an oval or road race fan" a couple of exstra road course races with the two top series(quality) in the u.s. would certainly fuel my fire since I am a road race fan first. Nothing against ovals love them also, but I grew up first on road racing. Oh see everyone at Indy next month.

David

[BenRoethig]

The joint ALMS seems nice, but we have more tracks then we have dates already.

[elis]

Personally I prefer road, airport & street courses, I wouldn't be overly unhappy if you lobbed in the odd 2 mile oval though... preferably Lausitz or Rocks, (before it becomes a housing estate that is ;) )

[Rogelio]

If the IRL wants to remain a "unique" racing series, then a combination of street, road and oval courses is the way to go. F1 dominates road racing and NASCAR is an all oval series (except Sonoma & the Glenn).

I love watching F1 racing, but I have to admit that as the cars get spread out, the racing becomes rather monotnous and boring. There are few cautions and therefore, other than pit strategy, there is very little drama. I love watching NASCAR, especially when they hit the road courses. In my opinion, the road courses seperate the men from the boys and demonstrate the true driving abilities of a driver.

The IRL should seriously look into expanding its street courses. Long Beach is the crown jewell and an example of what street racing is all about. I was at the downtown Vegas race last year and I hope that the IRL considers the race as an option. Street racing is great because the series takes the racing to the fans and all they have to do is show up and enjoy the racing. Street racing has a lot more action/cautions that influence the outcome, unlike road racing. The party atmosphere can not be compared with oval or road racing.

I agree with most on this forum that an equal balance of road, oval and street racing is the way to go.

As a former Champ Car fan I would love to see the following street courses brought back: Las Vegas, Denver, Houston. Reconsider Phoenix and consider a race in San Diego. The more that the IRL can stay out of NASCAR's backyard, the better our series can recover by making new fans. Of course, I have a West Coast bias, but hey I love street courses.

[DanicaFan]

Ovals are the best !

[DavePI2]

I can't believe I said a second race at indy would be a good idea without both cleveland and laguna secca being on the schedule first. Also Michigan again.


David

[pvtjoker]

Answering the original question of this post, I'd say Oval, ovals, and more ovals. That said, Cleveland and Edmonton are fun races. The rest of the road courses? Not so much, but thats my personal opinion. There are plenty here who'd say the opposite.

[bblocker68]

People want too many street courses. I like street course races but if there are many of them they'll get old fast. *cough*ChampCar*cough*

St. Pete, Long Beach, Detroit, and Australia are enough IMO.

And if it was up to me I would replace Detroit with Toronto or Houston. But I think we have enough as it is. The "coolness" factor of racing on city streets is taken away when you do it so often.

I agree that some of the 1.5 mile ovals should see the chopping block too. Homestead for sure. And either Kansas or Chicagoland. Then replace them with Fontana and Michigan.

My dream schedule would go something like this:

1. Long Beach (street)
2. Motegi (oval)
3. Surfer's Paradise (street)
4. Road Atlanta (road)
5. St. Pete (street)
6. Kansas (oval)
7. Indy (superspeedway)
8. Milwaukee (short oval)
9. Road America (road)
10. Iowa (short oval)
11. Cleveland (airport)
12. Michigan (superspeedway)
13. Toronto (street)
14. Mosport/Mont-Tremblant (road)
15. Edmonton (airport)
16. Nashville (oval)
17. Mid-Ohio (road)
18. Richmond (short oval)
19. Kentucky (oval)
20. Watkins Glen (road)
21. Texas (oval)
22. Laguna Seca (road)
23. California (superspeedway)

+1. You hit the nail on the head Helix.

Looks like I follow a good portion of folks in this thread. I love natural road courses, love Indy, enjoy street courses and short ovals, moderately enjoy Michigan and Fontana and could do without most 1.5 D-shaped ovals except Texas.

[maxmach]

I like racing. Hard hard fought racing. THe 1/3 ratio seems good. Get this series back to what it was, a "viable" alternative to F1 and Nascar. Showing the best drivers on all the best tracks, road, street and oval. The variety of tracks is what sets this series apart, and what will make it so strong, again.

[nigelred5]

If they would incorporate more of the oval at Indy in to the road course, a 12 or 24 hour ALMS race combined with a Sunday feature IRL roadcourse race would be sweet. Of course they should be doing a 12 hour at Road America as it is but that's getting off topic.

[DrDomm]

Haven't followed this thread, but I'll vote for the 33%/33%/33% mix.

I'll also add that I think California and Michigan need to be 2 of the ovals. I'm not a fan 1 mile ovals...sorry. I also prefer 500 milers to 200 milers.

I also want the classic roadcourses as well (Road America, Watkins Glen, Laguna, etc...).

Lastly, I'll say that the formula has a big impact on how the schedule is arranged. That was always a problem for CART, and will now be ICS problem.

[CARTDM15]

That mix already killed more than one series in this country.

Lets not try to repeat that yet again.
I said what I peferred not what would work.I would like to see the ovals gone.
I would like to see a series that would bring in the drivers aspiring for F1.It would be a great series if it was like A1 grand prix but with cars with more power.I would to see F1 tester like Klien,Liuzzi,Hulkenberg,Buemi and others race against the Andretti's & Rahals.That way you can get ride of some the less talented driver like Foyt, Carpenter, Rice & Roth.
No European drivers will come over here with a majority of ovals on the schedule.You can't make it to F1 with that kind of series.

[call_me_andrew]

I said what I peferred not what would work.I would like to see the ovals gone.
I would like to see a series that would bring in the drivers aspiring for F1.It would be a great series if it was like A1 grand prix but with cars with more power.I would to see F1 tester like Klien,Liuzzi,Hulkenberg,Buemi and others race against the Andretti's & Rahals.That way you can get ride of some the less talented driver like Foyt, Carpenter, Rice & Roth.
No European drivers will come over here with a majority of ovals on the schedule.You can't make it to F1 with that kind of series.

They have a series like that now. It's called GP2.

Do you want to be like GP2 and serve as a feeder to F1. Or do you want to be like Sprint Cup and have F1 serve as a feeder to you. ;)

[BenRoethig]

I said what I peferred not what would work.I would like to see the ovals gone.
I would like to see a series that would bring in the drivers aspiring for F1.It would be a great series if it was like A1 grand prix but with cars with more power.I would to see F1 tester like Klien,Liuzzi,Hulkenberg,Buemi and others race against the Andretti's & Rahals.That way you can get ride of some the less talented driver like Foyt, Carpenter, Rice & Roth.
No European drivers will come over here with a majority of ovals on the schedule.You can't make it to F1 with that kind of series.

You wouldn't be seeing anything. Such a series is not sustainable on North America soil. This isn't europe. There would be one or two years with very little sponsor and fan support then only NASCAR.

[ShiftingGears]

I said what I peferred not what would work.I would like to see the ovals gone.
I would like to see a series that would bring in the drivers aspiring for F1.It would be a great series if it was like A1 grand prix but with cars with more power.I would to see F1 tester like Klien,Liuzzi,Hulkenberg,Buemi and others race against the Andretti's & Rahals.That way you can get ride of some the less talented driver like Foyt, Carpenter, Rice & Roth.
No European drivers will come over here with a majority of ovals on the schedule.You can't make it to F1 with that kind of series.

No. There are many feeder series, and without ovals and radically different cars AOWR isn't much different.
Secondly, the aim of the series is to be the pinnacle for aspiring drivers. Why would you want any less?

[nigelred5]

I said what I peferred not what would work.I would like to see the ovals gone.
I would like to see a series that would bring in the drivers aspiring for F1.It would be a great series if it was like A1 grand prix but with cars with more power.I would to see F1 tester like Klien,Liuzzi,Hulkenberg,Buemi and others race against the Andretti's & Rahals.That way you can get ride of some the less talented driver like Foyt, Carpenter, Rice & Roth.
No European drivers will come over here with a majority of ovals on the schedule.You can't make it to F1 with that kind of series.


That was Called Champcar, circa 2007. Apparenty it didn't work. An open wheel series with no ovals, IE without Indy will be a commercial failure in the US. 20 races with no more than half ovals.

[nigelred5]

At this point, I want good events. Who cares who races last on a weekend. Indycar/ ALMS/ GrandAM/F1 WHO CARES. Bring it on!! Give me a Indycar/ALMS/Grand AM event at the Glen while we're at it. Each brings a different style of competition. Neither GrandAm or Indycar has the most aesthetically appealing cars in my opinion, but they do put on good competetive racing at most events.

Just like the venues themselves, a variety in the cars on track makes for a good spectator event. I remember attending an event at Summit point back in the early 80's with Trans AM, Formula Atlantic, Renault Sports racers, some showroom stock and enduro karts. It was a great mix because each was so different and all were good competition. Something else I'd like to see would be for different cars using different track configurations. Like at Homestead for instance. Run the Indycars on the Oval, but run sportscars on the combined course. It would shake the event up a little and make it more interesting for spectators. not only have variety in hte season schedule, but have even more variety in the individual event schedules. It certainly seems to be working with the combined events that Champcar and Indy car both have held with the ALMS and GrandAM. I strongly believe the variety is the key.

I posted it somewhere else, but INDYCAR should take up the combined ALMS/ Champcar weekend at Road America, but make the ALMS race more of an endurance event. I know they are trying to keep the Petit the signature US event, but a combined Labor Day weekend event with some support races and featuring Indycars on Saturday and then a 12 or even 24 for the ALMS starting sunday morning into Monday at Road America just sounds and feels right. What a weekend that could be.

Auto racing in general has more competition for dollars and spectators than ever. If they need to continue to combine events with multiple series to make the events financially successful, then I only see that as a good thing for the fans.

[CARTDM15]

I never said it would work.I know that it wouldn't because Americans want watch anything Americans are not good at.(F1, soccer).I said what I would like to see.Americans care more about personality than driving talent.Who is the only star open wheel racing produce in the last 12 years?Danica Patrick and it wasn't because of her racing talent.

GP2 is great but its a support series.The races are not long enough.

I think all open wheel drivers should inspire to be in F1.Its the second most popular sport in the world.Indycar is no where near F1.

I don't want anybody to think I'm anti Indycar.I will watch all the races just like in the past.I want whine because of all the ovals.I just want enjoy them as much.I think an all road course series would bring in some very impressive talent.Talent is all I care about.

[harvick#1]

Road Courses hands down, nothin sweeter than hearing the engines go through up and down the gears. and when it rains, then we see who really has the skill to handle the cars fast.

Ovals tend to get very boring extremely quick

[harvick#1]

At this point, I want good events. Who cares who races last on a weekend. Indycar/ ALMS/ GrandAM/F1 WHO CARES. Bring it on!! Give me a Indycar/ALMS/Grand AM event at the Glen while we're at it. Each brings a different style of competition. Neither GrandAm or Indycar has the most aesthetically appealing cars in my opinion, but they do put on good competetive racing at most events.
.

the Nascar race at the Glen would be better than any Grand Am race (never knew a Prototype to be so far down on technology. espcially then ALMS GT1 class is faster than DP's). plus Robby Gordon is a show in itself

[xtlm]

"I never said it would work.I know that it wouldn't because Americans want watch anything Americans are not good at.(F1, soccer)."
We don't get the chance to be good at F1...they don't like Americans (oh and no one would win with that ride scott had...F1 is one of the more lopsided sports). Also yes, we don't have the best national soccer team, but we don't have anywhere near the worst one either.

"I said what I would like to see.Americans care more about personality than driving talent.Who is the only star open wheel racing produce in the last 12 years?Danica Patrick and it wasn't because of her racing talent."
This is not really true at all, but anyway this is also because of that whole split thing

"I think all open wheel drivers should inspire to be in F1.Its the second most popular sport in the world.Indycar is no where near F1."
Yeah, again because of that whole split thing...there was a time when it was not like that. Time will bring change, things will brighten.

"I don't want anybody to think I'm anti Indycar.I will watch all the races just like in the past.I want whine because of all the ovals.I just want enjoy them as much.I think an all road course series would bring in some very impressive talent.Talent is all I care about."
What would impress me more is someone who rocks both on the road and in the ring.

[BenRoethig]

I never said it would work.I know that it wouldn't because Americans want watch anything Americans are not good at.(F1, soccer).

We've checked both of them out and determined we didn't like either. It's called independent thought.

[nigelred5]

I would say SOME ovals get boring, not all. Road course races can be just as guilty of that. That's the problem I have with all the 1.5 milers. I hate the Kansas track. Texas had some exciting races before the spec Dallara/Honda/Firestone package. They seem to have become sleepers lately as far as I can remember. Chicago and Kentucky are too much like Kansas for me so I never watch them no matter what is racing there. zzzzz..... Milwaukee, Phoenix and New Hampshire are all much better tracks for Indycars IMHO. I even find Richmond more exciting than the 1.5's. unfortunately the 1.5's are in some key heartland markets I don't see the IRL abandoning. I suspect we may see 1 possibly 2 current IRL schedule races dropped, and maybe another 2 or 3 additional former Champcar venues added for a 20 race schedule.

The Daytona Prototypes are borderline guesome looking, and they are intentionally "low tech" chassis wise, but the racing is usually pretty darn good and it gets the France family's money into the equation. Just like Open wheel racing, sports cars could probably use a little blendification itself but more in favor of the ALMS formulas. I never really liked the "Prototype" name for the sports cars, but I also couldn't ever think of a better name for them.

[Ironcurtainantihero]

I'm going to try to stay above the politics. There is WAY too much of that going on in every forum discussing the IRL.

I admit that I am a little concerned about open-wheel cars on ovals. I'm not sure why, even though I saw the video recently of Ayrton Senna's death at Imola on a road course and while I was sad I didn't feel like these cars shouldn't race there.

I'm sure that there will be people PO'd when the new schedule comes out. While I admit that I would like to see a diverse mix-like CART had back in the day-as long as there is one strong open-wheel series in North America that is all I care about.